Emirates and Mauritius drive activities to promote the destination across the Middle East

February 10, 2014 10:22 am

Emirates, a global connector of people and places, and the Mauritius tourism authorities, have reached the final stop in a series of road show events across the Middle East region to promote tourism to the Indian Ocean paradise.

The events, organised by the airline and the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), are promoting Mauritius’ many attractions in the key Middle East markets of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between 2 February and 10th February 2014.

The road show follows the recent deployment of an Emirates A380 to Mauritius, enabling tourists to travel to the idyllic destination on the airline’s flagship aircraft.

The Mauritius delegation for the road show is led by Hon. Michael Sik Yuen, Minister of Tourism and Leisure and Dr. Karl Mootoosamy, Director of the MTPA. Emirates’ representatives have also joined the activities and today Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa attended a press conference in Dubai.

“Mauritius, a dream destination for travellers, is without any doubt a pearl in the Indian Ocean, said Hon. Michael Sik Yuen, Minister of Tourism and Leisure for Mauritius. “Choosing Mauritius as a holiday destination is an enriching experience, especially for travellers in quest of authenticity and a high quality product. Travellers will be mesmerised by the peacefulness, hospitality, safety and unique and personalised service that are provided by the local people,” Mr Sik Yuen added.

“The island of Mauritius is a vibrant country and constitutes an important destination amidst our global network,” said Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa. “We strongly believe in its potential and our regular increases in frequencies on this route, plus the introduction of a daily A380 service, demonstrate that our promotion strategy is the right one and is bringing concrete results.”

Mr Abbas added: “The promotion of Mauritius has always been an integral part of our strategy. We are now renewing our commitment to the destination and MTPA and want to achieve even more together. I am extremely confident that results of all our joint actions and marketing efforts will be seen in a very short span of time.”

Dr Karl Mootoosamy said: “The Middle East is a market of utmost importance for our tourism industry. With the support of Emirates airline and tour operators, the number of tourist arrivals is continuously increasing. We have doubled our efforts on the Middle East market and this year we are expecting an increase of 25% in terms of tourist arrivals. Our marketing campaigns will focus mainly on the island’s luxurious hotels, golf courses, spas and the main cultural attractions of the country.”

In each road show city, the joint delegation has conducted presentations highlighting the island’s attractions to the local travel trade and media.

Emirates Holidays, the tour-operating arm of Emirates airline, is constantly promoting Mauritius with an offering that includes holidays for families and leisure travellers, as well as dedicated Mauritius packages for honeymooners and spa enthusiasts.

In December 2013, Emirates and the MTPA signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), ensuring that the two organisations will continue to work closely together to promote inbound tourism from key markets.

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